Homebuilder's revenues surge

BONITA SPRINGS — WCI Communities, the homebuilder that emerged from bankruptcy reorganization in 2009, says revenues rose 58% in the third quarter compared with the same quarter in 2012 on strong sales of new homes.

“These strong results underscore the strength of the Florida housing market, our differentiated product offerings and our targeted customer base,” says WCI President and CEO Keith Bass in a statement.

The company posted a net loss of $17 million in the third quarter on revenues of $85.5 million. That compares with net income of $56 million on revenues of $54.2 million in the third quarter of 2012. The company attributed part of the net loss in the third quarter on a preferred-dividend payout and a charge for early repayment of debt.

Revenues from homes delivered for the third quarter totaled $61 million, up 84% from the same quarter a year ago. The company says the average selling price was $429,000, an increase of 5.7%, and it delivered 141 homes, an increase of 74.1% from the third quarter of 2012.

Compared with the third quarter of 2012, new orders during the third quarter of 2013 increased 21.9% to 128 homes and the average selling price per new order was $425,000. Contract value of new orders was $54.4 million for the third quarter, an increase of 13.3%. Backlog contract value as of Sept. 30 was $154.2 million, an increase of $4.4 million, or 2.9%. The average price in backlog was $470,000, an increase of 10.1%.

Shares of WCI Communities started trading publicly earlier this year (symbol: WCIC; recent price: $16.92).